"back" meaning in English

See back in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈbæk/ Audio: en-us-back.ogg [US] Forms: back [singular], backs [plural]
Head templates: {{noun}} [POS TABLE]
  1. The back is the rear part of something; it is the part in the other direction from the front.
    Sense id: simple-back-en-noun-ZGfmh3oS
  2. The back is the rear part of the human body.
    Sense id: simple-back-en-noun-aPtXthyV

Preposition

IPA: /ˈbæk/ Audio: en-us-back.ogg [US] Forms: back
Head templates: {{preposition}} [POS TABLE]
  1. Toward the rear.
    Sense id: simple-back-en-prep-pu1Sx9Hr
  2. To a place again.
    Sense id: simple-back-en-prep-W5mQ45gP

Verb

IPA: /ˈbæk/ Audio: en-us-back.ogg [US] Forms: back [canonical], backs [third-person, singular], backed [past], backed [past, participle], backing [present, participle]
Head templates: {{verb}} [POS TABLE]
  1. If you back something, you support it.
    Sense id: simple-back-en-verb-DbA7qKsR
  2. If you back up, you move backward.
    Sense id: simple-back-en-verb-JzWXWwn0
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "back",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Preposition"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "preposition"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He went back behind the stands."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Toward the rear."
      ],
      "id": "simple-back-en-prep-pu1Sx9Hr"
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I didn't like it, so I sent it back."
        },
        {
          "text": "He went back to the same house."
        },
        {
          "text": "They came back again."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To a place again."
      ],
      "id": "simple-back-en-prep-W5mQ45gP"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/\"b{k/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-back.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "back"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "back",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I went to the back of the house."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The back is the rear part of something; it is the part in the other direction from the front."
      ],
      "id": "simple-back-en-noun-ZGfmh3oS",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He had a scar on his back."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The back is the rear part of the human body."
      ],
      "id": "simple-back-en-noun-aPtXthyV",
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/\"b{k/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-back.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "back"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "back",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backs",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backed",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backing",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The Republicans backed the bill."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you back something, you support it."
      ],
      "id": "simple-back-en-verb-DbA7qKsR",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He put the car in gear and backed right into the garage door."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you back up, you move backward."
      ],
      "id": "simple-back-en-verb-JzWXWwn0",
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/\"b{k/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-back.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "back"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "back",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Preposition"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "preposition"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He went back behind the stands."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Toward the rear."
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I didn't like it, so I sent it back."
        },
        {
          "text": "He went back to the same house."
        },
        {
          "text": "They came back again."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To a place again."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/\"b{k/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-back.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "back"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "back",
      "tags": [
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I went to the back of the house."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The back is the rear part of something; it is the part in the other direction from the front."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Countable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He had a scar on his back."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The back is the rear part of the human body."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/\"b{k/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-back.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "back"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "back",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backs",
      "tags": [
        "third-person",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backed",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "backing",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The Republicans backed the bill."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you back something, you support it."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He put the car in gear and backed right into the garage door."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "If you back up, you move backward."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbæk/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/\"b{k/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-back.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "back"
}

Download raw JSONL data for back meaning in English (2.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-03 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (05fdf6b and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.